MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2013 Regular Session
To: Education
By: Senator(s) Simmons (13th)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-7-104, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO EMPOWER THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO RECONSTITUTE THE SUNFLOWER COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM INTO THE "FANNIE LOU HAMER CHARTER SCHOOL DISTRICT"; TO EMPOWER THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ISSUE REGULATIONS FOR THE APPLICATION OF A QUALIFIED CHARTER SCHOOL ORGANIZATION TO OPERATE THE SCHOOLS OF SUNFLOWER COUNTY AND TO ENTER INTO NECESSARY CONTRACTS FOR THAT PURPOSE; TO AUTHORIZE THE FANNIE LOU HAMER CHARTER SCHOOL DISTRICT TO SELECT ONE OR MORE OF ITS ELEMENTARY AND/OR MIDDLE SCHOOLS TO OPERATE AS A PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL; TO ESTABLISH CERTAIN CONDITIONS THAT MUST BE AGREED TO BY THE NEW FANNIE LOU HAMER CHARTER SCHOOL DISTRICT IN ORDER TO RECEIVE CHARTER STATUS; TO ESTABLISH CERTAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES BY THE STATE BOARD, THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND CERTAIN OTHER STATE AGENCIES IN THE EVENT THAT THE FANNIE LOU HAMER CHARTER SCHOOL DISTRICT MEETS ITS CONDITIONS; TO AMEND SECTION 37-165-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE AND DIRECT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ISSUE RULES AND REGULATIONS NECESSARY TO IMPLEMENT THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 37-7-104, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-7-104. (1) The State Board of Education shall develop a process for the reorganized Sunflower County School system to be designated and operated as the "Sunflower County-Fannie Lou Hamer Charter School District." The State Board of Education is empowered and directed to contract with one or more experienced public charter school organizations with experience in the academic, finance and other operational functions of schools and school districts, for the administration, management and operation of the Sunflower County-Fannie Lou Hamer Charter School District and the schools in the system. The public charter school organization under contract with the State Board of Education shall have full autonomy over decisions, including, but not limited to, matters concerning finance, personnel, scheduling, curriculum and instruction, to supervise the day-to-day activities of the Sunflower County-Fannie Lou Hamer Charter School District under the conditions provided in subsection (2) of this section.
(2) The governing board of the Sunflower County-Fannie Lou Hamer Charter School District may choose one or more of the elementary and/or middle schools in Sunflower County to serve as a charter school. As a condition precedent for the establishment of a school in Sunflower County to apply for charter status, the school must select at least ten (10) of the following twelve (12) charter school plan options and implement these conditions at the proposed charter school:
(a) The school district must comply with the rules and policies of the State Department of Education.
(b) The school district must agree to be monitored by the State Department of Education.
(c) The school must implement a mandatory parent involvement program.
(d) School must agree to require each student to read a minimum of four (4) books annually.
(e) School must set goals to improve graduation rate.
(f) School must set goals for decreasing dropout rate.
(g) School must agree to collaborate with the North Sunflower Rural Health Center to screen and develop a preventive health plan for all students and their parents who are eligible for the free/reduced lunch program.
(h) School must agree to implement a zero tolerance teen pregnancy program.
(i) School must agree to implement a zero tolerance tobacco, alcohol, drugs and violence program.
(j) The district must agree to employ a social worker to collaborate with the Department of Human Services, Health Department, Division of Medicaid, Mental Health and Mississippi Delta Community College to create a seamless "Empowerment Plan" for each child's family enrolled in the charter school.
(k) School must agree to develop a flexible schedule that focus on longer school hours daily or on Saturdays.
(l) The district must utilize a virtual school model in one of their schools as a model.
(3) If the Sunflower County-Fannie Lou Hamer Charter School District implements a minimum of ten (10) of the twelve (12) plan items from the Charter School Plan in subsection (2) of this section, the state and its agencies will have the following duties and responsibilities:
(a) Remove restrictions and allow the district the flexibility to function as a charter school.
(b) Provide additional funds to the district by supplementing the local ad valorem millage funds to ensure that the district receives a minimum of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) net value for each mill levied up to thirty (30) mills in the district.
(c) If less than seventy percent (70%) of the menu items chosen by the district are not completed or being pursued successfully the state funds in paragraph (b) of this subsection will be discontinued.
(d) The State Department of Education will conduct an annual evaluation of the district and submit to the Senate and House Education Committees on or before January 1 each year.
(e) Require the agency heads of the State Department of Education, the State Department of Human Services, the State Department of Health, the Mississippi Division of Medicaid and the Mississippi Department of Mental Health to collaborate and work with their local agencies to carry out an effective coordinated plan in Sunflower County.
(f) Allow the district if it chooses (requiring at least fifty percent (50%) of current parents approval) to collaborate with a private or parochial partner to manage the charter school.
(g) Allow all funds that follow the student to be prorated if a student is removed from the charter school and returned to his/her school of origin.
(h) The State Department of Education will ensure that the charter school demographics (race, gender, special needs, etc.) represent the composition of the districts.
(4) The State Board of Education and the governing board of the approved public charter school shall execute a charter contract that clearly sets forth the academic and operational performance expectations and measures by which the public charter school will be judged and the administrative relationship between the authorizer and public charter school, including each party's rights and duties. The performance expectations and measures set forth in the charter contract shall include, but need not be limited to, applicable federal and state accountability requirements. The performance provisions may be refined or amended by mutual agreement after the public charter school is operating and has collected baseline achievement data for its enrolled students. The Sunflower County-Fannie Lou Hamer public charter schools shall be subject to the same civil rights, health and safety requirements applicable to other public schools in the state, except as otherwise specifically provided in this act. Public charter schools shall be subject to the student assessment and accountability requirements applicable to other public schools in the state.
(5) In the event the Sunflower County-Fannie Lou Hamer Charter School District does not comply with the provisions and requirements of subsections 1 through 4 of this section, the following provision shall be applicable:
In any Mississippi county in which are located, as of February 8, 2012, three (3) school districts and only three (3) school districts, all of which are under conservatorship as defined by the Mississippi Department of Education as of February 8, 2012, there shall be an administrative consolidation of all of the school districts in the county into one (1) countywide school district with one (1) county board of education. The State Board of Education shall determine the school district(s) applicable to the provisions of this section and spread this finding on the minutes of its August 2012 meeting. On or before September 1, 2012, the State Board of Education shall serve the local school boards applicable to the provisions of this section, or the Mississippi Department of Education Conservator for each of the three (3) school districts, with notice and instruction regarding the action to be taken to comply with this section. In such county, there shall be a new county board of education elected in a November 2013 special election which shall be called for that purpose and the new county board members shall be elected as provided in Section 37-5-7, Mississippi Code of 1972. No previous board member shall be eligible to serve on the newly elected board. Provided, however, that it shall be the responsibility of the board of supervisors of such county to apportion the countywide school district into five (5) new single member board of education districts which shall be consistent with the supervisors district lines in said county. The board of supervisors of said county shall thereafter publish the same in some newspaper of general circulation within said county for at least three (3) consecutive weeks and after having given notice of publication and recording the same upon the minutes of the board of supervisors of said county, said new district lines will thereafter be effective for the November 2013 special election. If necessary, the county board of education of said county shall reapportion the board of education districts in accordance with applicable law as soon as practicable after the results of the 2020 decennial census are published and as soon as practicable after every decennial census thereafter. The new county board of education, with the written approval of the Mississippi Department of Education Conservator and the State Board of Education, shall provide for the administrative consolidation of all school districts in the county into one (1) countywide school district on or before July 1 next following the November 2013 election. The new county board of education shall serve as the school board for the county. Any school district affected by the required administrative consolidation that does not voluntarily consolidate with the new school district ordered by the county board of education shall be administratively consolidated by the State Board of Education with the countywide school district, to be effective on July 1 following the election of the new county board of education. The State Board of Education shall promptly move on its own motion to administratively consolidate any school district which does not voluntarily consolidate in order to enable the affected school districts to reasonably accomplish the resulting administrative consolidation into one (1) countywide district by July 1 following the election of the new county board of education. All affected school districts shall comply with any consolidation order issued by the county board of education or the State Board of Education, as the case may be, on or before July 1 following the election of the new county board of education.
(2) On July 1 following the election of the new county board of education, the former county board of education and the former board of trustees of any municipal separate, or special municipal separate school district located in such county shall be abolished. All real and personal property which is owned or titled in the name of a school district located in such county shall be transferred to the new reorganized school district of the county in which such school district is located. The Mississippi Department of Education Conservator and the State Board of Education shall be responsible for establishing the contracts for teachers and principals for the next school year following the required administrative consolidation with the consultation of the newly elected successor county board of education. The successor county board of education shall appoint the new county superintendent of education for the reorganized school district. The county superintendent of education of said reorganized school district shall not be elected but shall thereafter be appointed by the successor county board of education in the manner provided in Section 37-9-25. The superintendents of the former under-performing school districts located in the county shall not be eligible for appointment as the new superintendent. The selection of the appointed county superintendent of education and the assistant superintendent of education in the central administration office of the successor countywide school district shall be the responsibility of the successor county board of education with the approval of the Mississippi Department of Education Conservator and the State Board of Education. No such administratively consolidated school district shall have more than one (1) assistant superintendent of education. It shall be the responsibility of the successor county board of education, with approval of the Mississippi Department of Education Conservator and the State Board of Education, to prepare and approve the budget of the new reorganized districts, and the county board of education may use staff from the former school districts to prepare the budget. Any proposed order of the successor county board of education directing the transfer of the assets, real or personal property of an affected school district in the county, shall be submitted and approved by the State Board of Education. The finding of the State Board of Education shall be final and conclusive for the purposes of the transfer of property required by such administrative consolidation. Any person or school district aggrieved by an order of the successor county school board of education pursuant to the required administrative consolidation may appeal therefrom to the State Board of Education within ten (10) days from the date of the adjournment of the meeting at which such order is entered. Such appeal shall be de novo, and the finding of the State Board of Education upon such question shall be final and conclusive for the purpose of the approval or disapproval of the action by said county board of education.
(3) When any school district in such county is abolished under the provisions of this section, the abolition thereof shall not impair or release the property of such former school district from liability for the payment of the bonds or other indebtedness of such district and it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors of said county to levy taxes on the property of said district so abolished from year to year according to the terms of such indebtedness until same shall be fully paid.
(4) In the administratively consolidated countywide school district created under this section, the ad valorem tax rate shall be determined as set forth under Section 37-57-1 et seq.
(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require or restrict the closing of any school or school facility, unless such facility is an unneeded administrative office located within a school district which has been abolished under the provisions of this section. All administrative consolidations under this section shall be accomplished so as not to delay or in any manner negatively affect the desegregation of another school district in the county pursuant to court order.
(6) The State Board of Education shall promulgate rules and regulations to facilitate the administrative consolidation of the school districts in a county pursuant to this section. When the orders of the successor county board of education adopting the boundaries of the successor countywide school district have been entered and are final, as approved by the State Board of Education, the new district lines shall be submitted by the State Board of Education with the assistance of the Attorney General to the Attorney General of the United States for preclearance or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for a declaratory judgment in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended. In the event the change in the school district lines are precleared or approved, the State Board of Education shall formally declare the new lines as the new boundaries of the consolidated countywide school district.
SECTION 2. Section 37-165-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-165-7. (1) The provisions of this chapter shall be applicable to only those chronically under-performing public schools in the State of Mississippi which seek to be converted, and ultimately may be converted, to conversion charter schools upon approval of a petition for conversion charter school status by the State Board of Education, provided that the State Board of Education is empowered and directed to enter into contracts for the operation of the Sunflower County-Fannie Lou Hamer Charter School District under the provisions and conditions of Section 37-7-104, Mississippi Code of 1972.
(2) The State Board of Education, subject to the requirements of the Mississippi Administrative Procedures Law, shall establish rules and regulations for the submission of petitions for the conversion of a public school to conversion charter school status and criteria and procedures for the operation of conversion charter schools, and on or before July 1, 2013, shall issue rules and regulations for the application process for proposals and entering into appropriate agreements for the operation of the Sunflower County-Fannie Lou Hamer Charter School District under the provisions and conditions of Section 37-7-104. The board shall receive and review each petition for the conversion of a public school to conversion charter school status from the school's sponsors and, in its discretion, may approve the petition and grant conversion charter school status.
(3) In order to be approved, a petition for conversion charter school status must adequately include:
(a) A plan for improvement at the school level for improving student learning and achieving a Successful rating or higher under the State Accountability Model;
(b) A set of academic or vocational, or both, performance-based objectives and student achievement-based objectives for the term of the contract and the means for measuring those objectives on no less than an annual basis;
(c) An agreement to provide a yearly report to parents, the school board of the school district in which the conversion charter school is located, and the State Board of Education which indicates the progress made by the conversion charter school in the previous year in meeting the academic or vocational, or both, performance objectives;
(d) An agreement that the conversion charter school shall be nonsectarian;
(e) An agreement that the conversion charter school shall not charge tuition; and
(f) An agreement requiring the conversion charter school to be subject to financial audits in the same manner as public school districts.
(4) The procedures and process for the conversion of a public school to conversion charter school status shall be as follows:
(a) A petition shall be developed by a sponsor or its appointed representative and shall be made available to all parents or guardians of students enrolled in a public school that is chronically Low-Performing, At-Risk of Failing or Failing, as determined by the State Department of Education, with a copy of the proposed conversion plan attached to the petition for their inspection and signing;
(b) The petition and conversion plan must be approved by more than fifty percent (50%) of the families of the students enrolled in a chronically under-performing public school during the third consecutive year in which the school has been designated as Low-Performing, At-Risk of Failing or Failing, as determined by the State Department of Education. The family of a student enrolled in a chronically under-performing public school proposed to be converted to conversion charter school status shall be entitled to one (1) vote per family without regard to the number of children a family may have enrolled as students at the school. The group of parents or guardians submitting or having the petition submitted on their behalf shall be considered the sponsor of the conversion charter school;
(c) The sponsor shall prepare and submit the petition and the conversion plan for conversion charter school status approved by the parents or guardians of students enrolled in a chronically under-performing public school to the State Board of Education upon forms prescribed by or in a format specified by the board;
(d) Before the petition for conversion granting a public school conversion charter school status is submitted to the State Board of Education for approval, the sponsor shall conduct a public hearing in the local school district in which the school proposed for conversion is located to allow the parents or guardians of students enrolled in the chronically under-performing public school affected by the conversion to be informed of the conversion process and to address any concerns relating to the process and subsequent operation of the conversion charter school; and
(e) After the State Board of Education approves a petition for conversion charter school status, the parents or guardians of the students enrolled in the conversion charter school shall select members to serve on the conversion charter school's local management board, which members shall be selected in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the State Board of Education for the selection of conversion charter school local management board members.
(5) The conversion plan to be attached to the petition must include the following:
(a) A description of the plan for school improvement that addresses how the school proposes to work toward improving student learning and achieving a Successful rating or higher under the State Accountability Model;
(b) An outline of proposed academic or vocational, or both, performance criteria to be used during the initial period of the contract to measure progress of the school in improving student learning and achieving a Successful rating or higher under the State Accountability Model requiring that:
(i) Academic performance criteria must include specific and measureable benchmarks of academic performance on state assessments; and
(ii) Academic performance criteria include a requirement that conversion charter schools not miss adequate yearly progress for any two (2) consecutive years, as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, or other future federal school accountability requirements;
(c) A provision requiring the conversion charter school to comply with all rules, regulations, policies and procedures of the State Board of Education and the local school board and the provisions of the Mississippi Code of 1972 relating to the elementary and secondary education of students, except those rules, regulations, policies or procedures from which the conversion charter school specifically requests to be exempted and which have been agreed upon by the State Board of Education as specified in the school's contract. Conversion charter schools must comply with general health and safety standards, state test assessments and accountability requirements, financial accountability and auditing requirements, and all reporting and data collecting requirements in the same manner as public schools in the local school district;
(d) The local management board shall not directly or indirectly communicate to a parent or guardian that the conversion charter school is unable to meet the needs of a child, but shall provide a free and public education to every student in the attendance zone;
(e) Conversion charter schools may not be exempted from the following statutes:
(i) Section 37-9-75, which relates to teacher strikes;
(ii) Section 37-11-20, which prohibits acts of intimidation intended to keep a student from attending school;
(iii) Section 37-11-21, which prohibits abuse of school staff;
(iv) Section 37-11-23, which prohibits the willful disruption of school and school meetings;
(v) Sections 37-11-29 and 37-11-31, which relate to reporting requirements regarding unlawful or violent acts on school property;
(vi) Section 37-151-107, which prohibits false reporting of student counts by school officials;
(vii) Applicable State Department of Health regulations;
(viii) Applicable federal No Child Left Behind requirements and any additional federal education programs; and
(ix) Applicable federal and state requirements for special education, gifted education and vocational education programs;
(f) A detailed budget and a clear business plan, including any projected costs that extend beyond the regular operational costs of the conversion charter school;
(g) A plan of governance and the process by which the members of the local management board of the conversion charter school shall be selected to serve as the governing administrative authority, provided that:
(i) The local management board shall be composed of parents or guardians of students enrolled in and in attendance at the conversion charter school, selected by other parents or guardians of students enrolled in and in attendance at that school;
(ii) Members of the local management board may serve a term of three (3) years; however, a member's term of service on the local management board is contingent upon that member having a child continuously enrolled as a student at the conversion charter school during each school year that the member serves on the board. If a student no longer attends the conversion charter school and the board member has no other child enrolled in and attending the school, the term of the member-parent or guardian shall expire immediately and a new member selected. If a student is promoted and the board member has no other child enrolled in and attending the conversion charter school, the term of the member-parent or guardian shall expire immediately and a new member selected, unless the member-parent or guardian has another child who will be enrolled in the conversion charter school in the next succeeding scholastic year;
(iii) Members of the local management board shall serve without compensation;
(iv) No member of the local school board of any public or private school district may serve on the local management board of a conversion charter school;
(v) Procedures for the subsequent selection of members and filling vacancies that occur on the local management board are included; and
(vi) The selection of members to the local management board of conversion charter schools shall be performed in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the State Board of Education for the selection of conversion charter school local management board members;
(h) An agreement to provide an annual academic achievement report to parents, the local school board of any school district from which the conversion charter school draws students and the State Board of Education, which indicates the progress made by the conversion charter school during the previous year in meeting its academic or vocational performance objectives. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:
(i) Student progress concerning academic achievement;
(ii) Student attendance;
(iii) Student grades and scores on assessment instruments;
(iv) Incidents involving student discipline;
(v) Student socioeconomic data; and
(vi) Parent satisfaction with the schools;
(i) An agreement to provide a yearly financial report to parents, the local school board of any school district from which the conversion charter school draws students and the State Board of Education, which discloses all public and private funds received by the conversion charter school, and how those funds were expended;
(j) An agreement requiring all student records, financial documentation, and all other pertinent records of student and school data shall be accessible by the local school board;
(k) An agreement requiring members of the local management board of a conversion charter school to attend the training required under Section 37-3-4, provided by the Mississippi School Boards Association for local school board members and public school superintendents of this state, in order for those individuals to carry out their duties more effectively. Members of the local management board shall be reimbursed for the necessary expenses and mileage in attending any required training and shall be paid a per diem for each day in attendance at the training by the local school district in the amount authorized by Section 37-6-13 for members of the local school board;
(l) A transcript of the public hearing required under subsection (4)(d) of this section; and
(m) A description of the discipline policy to be adopted by the local management board, or alternatively, an agreement that the local management board shall adhere to the discipline policy implemented for the school district by the local school board.
(6) If a petition for the conversion of a public school to conversion charter school status is approved, the local management board, subject to the utilization of any available resources, may:
(a) Extend the school day or length of the scholastic year;
(b) Develop and establish a curriculum that is consistent with the Mississippi Curriculum Framework which provides courses that promote postsecondary education and vocational preparation and/or admission;
(c) Select, purchase and use textbooks, literature and other instructional materials that would improve educational attainment by students in the school, subject to the approval of the State Board of Education;
(d) Select a person to be employed as the principal of the conversion charter school or may contract with a profit or nonprofit organization which has operated a successful public school in any state or the District of Columbia for the daily administrative management of the conversion charter school, provided that daily administrative management shall not include the authority to employ or terminate conversion charter school administrators, teachers or other personnel, establish curriculum or adopt a budget. The person selected by the local management board to serve as principal of the conversion charter school must attend or must have attended a principal leadership program approved by the State Department of Education. If the local management board contracts with a profit or nonprofit organization for daily administrative management functions, that contract shall not abrogate or preempt any provisions of the contract entered into between the local management board and the State Board of Education for the conversion of the public school to conversion charter school status; and
(e) Select licensed teachers who are highly qualified under the No Child Left Behind Act for employment in the conversion charter school and determine the salaries of those teachers employed. The minimum salaries for licensed teachers employed in the conversion charter school shall be in accordance with the scale for teachers' salaries provided under the Teacher Opportunity Program, as established under Section 37-19-7.
(7) (a) All functions and decisions of the local management board impacting the academic curriculum, student progress and assessment, and the accountability standards of a conversion charter school shall be subject to the reviewing and approval authority of the State Board of Education.
(b) All administrative functions and decisions of the local management board impacting the financial or any other managerial or operational functions of a conversion charter school shall be subject to the reviewing and approval authority of the local school board.
(8) Meetings of the local management board shall be subject to the requirements of Sections 25-41-1 through 25-41-17 governing open meetings.
(9) Nothing in this chapter prohibits conversion charter schools from offering virtual service pursuant to state law and regulations defining virtual schools.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2013, and shall stand repealed June 30, 2013.